1. Relevant Field
Systems and methods consistent with the present invention generally relate to processing source code during debugging operations. More particularly, systems and methods consistent with the invention relate to processing source code by rendering variables included in source code in a selected format.
2. Background Information
Businesses and other organizations generate and/or receive a variety of entries, data items and electronic information (broadly referred to hereafter as “data objects”) during the course of their operation. To organize and manage operations of the organization, the electronic information may be processed by a variety of computer programs and application programs including source code written by members of the organization. Members of the organization may perform debugging operations while writing the source code and/or when an error occurs during operation of an application program.
As operations of an organization increase and become more complex, the application programs used during the operations also increase in number and complexity. Further, debugging a complex application program may require a user to inspect and read hundreds of lines of codes and hundreds of variables and/or variable names that are rendered in uppercase in a display screen by a debugging software application or debugger. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a debugger screen 100 that may include a source code section 102 and a symbol section 104.
Source code section 102 may render lines of source code during a debugging operation. The lines of source code may include a variable 106 having a variable name “ThisIsAnExample” and a variable 108 having a variable name “ThisIsAnotherExample.” During execution, source code may be converted into executable code by, for example, a compiler. Variables 106 and 108 may be displayed in a format in which they were initially inputted when a programmer wrote the source code for the application program being analyzed. During a debugging operation, a user may input the text “ThisIsAnExample” in input field 110 or may double-click on “ThisIsAnExample” in source code section 102 to cause the debugger to inspect this particular variable. Symbol section 104 may be displayed or populated with data in screen 100 when the user selects a particular variable by either entering it in field 110 and/or double-clicking it in section 102. During such a selection, the debugger may convert the inputted text or the double-clicked variable into uppercase and may search for the selected variable name by using the uppercase variable as a search parameter. The converted uppercase variable name and its corresponding value is then displayed in symbol section 104. For example, when a user double-clicks on variable 106, “ThisIsAnExample” is converted to “THISISANEXAMPLE” to search the executable code for the variable name and its corresponding value. The converted variable name “THISISANEXAMPLE” is then displayed in cell 112 of symbol section 104 with a corresponding value in cell 114.
A user may then inspect and/or change the remaining attributes of the variable in symbol section 104 to determine a cause of an error of the source code being analyzed. Displaying multiple variable names in uppercase may reduce readability in symbol section 104 and may increase strain on a user analyzing the source code. Further, differentiating between similar variable names may be time-consuming and may increase resource costs of an organization.
In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide methods and systems for simplifying debugging operations.